Trust Repaid
by Leesa Perrie
Summary: Sequel to Trust is Given. A nice easy mission to ease the new sentinel and guide into things.  Yeah, right.
1. Chapter 1 – A Nice Easy Mission…

**Trust Repaid**

**By Leesa Perrie**

_Sequel to Trust is Given_

**Chapter One – A Nice Easy Mission…**

Rodney was late for the mission briefing, and as this would be their first mission since bonding, Sheppard found his lateness extremely irritating.

'_McKay, where are you?'_ Sheppard sent telepathically. _'You're late for the briefing. Everyone's here waiting for you to get your sorry butt into gear and join us.'_

His headset pinged, and the annoyed voice of one errant astrophysicist and pissed off sentinel came through loud and clear.

"Damn it, Colonel, a little warning before you start shouting in my mind, please! I hit my head on the console I was under, checking vitally important connections when you startled me."

'_If you weren't late, I wouldn't have had to remind you.'_

"Right, fine, so the fact you've probably given me concussion or even brain damage doesn't matter? I was busy, doing _important_ work, forgive me if I lost track of time a little."

'_Just tell me you're on your way, or do I have to come down there and drag you up here, kicking and screaming?'_

"Alright, alright, I'm on my way. And what do you mean kicking and screaming? Why would I be doing that? Really! And this mental nagging is just so unfair!"

'_I am not nagging. Believe me, this isn't me nagging. This is me getting ready to kick your ass…'_

"Fine, fine, no need to get nasty. I'm nearly there."

'_Good. Elizabeth is looking impatient, and you really don't want to piss her off as well, do you?'_

"I told you, I'm coming! Oh, look, there's the Control Room! See, almost there."

John smiled at Rodney's exasperated response.

"Rodney will be here in a moment," he told Elizabeth, Teyla and Ronon, who were waiting with him in Elizabeth's office.

"Good," Elizabeth said, looking at her watch. "Better late than never, I guess."

McKay burst into the room just then, sitting down with a huff, and glaring at Sheppard.

"I'm here. So you can stop nagging at me…"

"I told you, I wasn't nagging."

"You so were…"

"Gentlemen," Elizabeth interrupted them. "Shall we get down to business?"

"Sorry," they both said simultaneously. Elizabeth had to smother a grin at the twin looks of contrition of their faces.

"M5L-328, or Casilano, has been trading with us for several months now; food in return for medicine. As you know, it has a small population, spread over three villages that are cut into a massive forest. The Casils don't need to venture more than a few miles into the forest, and refuse to go into an area they call 'the land of ghosts'."

"Yes, yes, we know all this. Some handed down folktale of ghosts haunting the forest, probably with little, if any, basis in fact," McKay interrupted impatiently.

"Yes, Rodney," Elizabeth said with forced patience, before continuing. "Dr Corrigan was talking to an elder in the main village, recording folktales and songs, when the tale about the forest ghosts was told. It talks of a star falling from the sky, many generations ago. The Casils know of Wraith ships, but whatever this was, it was like nothing they had seen before. The star landed in the forest, causing a fire that would have wiped the villages out if heavy rain hadn't put it out in time. A group of hunters went to investigate where the star had fallen, and returned with tales of ghostly sounds in the trees. No one has ever returned to that area of the forest since."

"And we're going to see if there is anything in the forest," Rodney said, looking displeased. "Even if it isn't just some stupid superstitious tale, and something did crash on the planet, there's probably nothing left after a fire like that. We haven't picked up any power signatures…it's probably a huge waste of time."

"And it could be something vitally important, McKay, we just don't know. That's why we're going," John stated firmly.

"Why can't one of the other teams go? If they find something of interest, we can check it out later…"

"We're going, Rodney, and that's final."

"I still say it'll be a waste of my valuable time…"

"Rodney," Elizabeth cut in on what could well be the start of a rant. "After everything that has happened recently, you should be glad it's going to be a fairly straight forward mission. Look at it as a chance for the team to work together and find out how a sentinel and guide manage off world in a safe environment."

Rodney scowled, but nodded reluctantly.

"Fine," he sounded far from fine about it, but was obviously not going to complain any further in front of Elizabeth. Though no doubt the team would receive more complaints before the mission was over.

"You have a go then," Elizabeth said. "You leave in two hours. You'll need to take a puddle jumper as the 'land of the ghosts' is several miles from the gate. The locals say there is a forest glade nearby that you can set down in."

John smiled broadly at the mention of a jumper; the mission had just gotten better as far as he was concerned.

* * *

The jumper exited the wormhole and headed towards the 'land of ghosts'.

"See, no power readings," McKay said, looking at the sensors, and muttering. "Probably nothing left but wreckage, burnt beyond salvage at that, or just ?? the remains of a meteor. A total waste of time."

The team merely rolled their eyes, having heard variations on this theme prior to leaving Atlantis. Sheppard had a feeling McKay would complain about any mission they went on right now, to cover his nervousness at being in the field with his newfound abilities. McKay wasn't the only one nervous, not that John was going to admit to it to anyone.

'_Relax, Rodney, we'll be fine,'_ he sent telepathically.

"Oh, will you quit it with the telepathic nagging," Rodney snapped back.

"I was trying to be reassuring, actually."

"Whatever."

Teyla hid a smile at the familiar antics of her team-mates, whilst Ronon shook his head and chose to ignore them.

As they headed over the mainly deciduous forest, the fall colours were spectacular.

"That's quite a sight," John said after a few moments.

"It is impressive," Teyla agreed.

Rodney tore his eyes from the sensor displays, and had to admit to himself that the forest was stunning with the yellow, red and gold leaves spreading as far as the eye could see, but he was in no mood for admitting to it.

"Seen better in Canada," he muttered darkly, returning to the sensors.

"Right," Sheppard said, his tone indicating that he didn't believe McKay one bit. And, McKay thought sourly, no doubt with good reason. Damned empathy.

Several moments passed before they were over the general area and started looking for the clearing the locals had told them about. It was not hard to locate, and they were soon settled on the grassy ground of a small forest glade.

"Okay, any power readings?" Sheppard asked.

"Oh, right, like I wouldn't have mentioned if I was picking anything up," Rodney replied in exasperation. "No, no power readings."

"Well, everyone grab your gear, and let's take a walk and see what's out there."

"There's nothing out there but the local wildlife and maybe some burnt out, useless wreck, or a hunk of equally useless meteorite rock…"

Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon tuned out McKay's moaning, and headed outside with him following reluctantly behind them. The Colonel cloaked the jumper, and gave his usual 'don't forget where we parked' line, before getting his bearings.

"According to the story, the 'star', or whatever it was, landed downhill of this glade," John pointed to where the land started to move downwards, the way steep enough to notice but not so steep as to be difficult to walk down.

"Typical. That means it's uphill all the way back," Rodney muttered disgustedly. "I don't like running uphill…"

"Why would we be running? You said there's nothing here," Sheppard pointed out a grin.

"Knowing our luck, there'll be something nasty out there we end up running from. I hate uphill," McKay scowled.

"I'm sure Ronon would carry you if need be," Sheppard said.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Ronon replied, casting Sheppard an unhappy look, that was spoiled by the edges of his mouth curling upwards slightly.

"Humph," Rodney replied. "I'll remember that, big guy, next time you need my help." But the tone wasn't serious, just somewhat peevish.

"I would offer to carry you, but I fear you would need to lose some weight first," Teyla offered with a wry grin.

"Oh, not you as well, Teyla? What is this? 'Let's all pick on the genius' day?"

"No, it's 'try to shut up the moaning, complaining, pain in the ass, genius' day," Sheppard said, slapping him on the shoulder with exaggerated cheer, and heading down the slope.

"Right, fine, just don't blame me when this turns out to be a monumental waste of our time…"

"Yeah, yeah, we get the picture, McKay," the Colonel said, rolling his eyes, and adding telepathically, _'Give it a rest, will ya? And try and relax, for all our sakes.'_

McKay narrowed his eyes at this, especially the last bit, but otherwise didn't reply. Instead, he busied himself checking for power readings.

* * *

As they walked along, they spotted the occasional burnt and twisted piece of metal or other material, all of it overgrown and in fragments. Eventually, they found the impact site; a wide crater that was overgrown with vegetation, but no trees. Further investigation showed that the area was coated with the burnt remains of a ship, but none of it was intact.

"As I thought, there's nothing here," McKay said, somewhat smugly. "The force of the impact must have torn what was left of the ship apart."

"What was left of the ship?" Ronon asked.

"I'm assuming it started burning up in the atmosphere, so, yes, what was left of the ship when it crashed."

"If it was burning up, then that would explain the 'star' the villagers described," John nodded, eyeing the wreckage. "But what caused the 'ghostly noises'?"

"Who knows? Probably the wreckage made strange noises as it cooled and settled. Or maybe the wind blew across it in such a way as to make a noise, like a whistle effect. But whatever the case, there's nothing here worth salvaging," McKay said in disgust, idly kicking at a piece of burnt wreckage at his feet.

"Okay, so a wash out, then. Well, at least it was a nice, easy mission…"

No sooner had Sheppard uttered those words, than the 'nice, easy mission' went awry. From two different sides, men suddenly appeared over the rise of the crater, stunning Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon before they had a chance to react. McKay cursed, having been so intent on picking up energy readings, he had neglected to check for life signs, and it hadn't even occurred to him to use his senses to listen out for trouble. He lifted his hands in surrender; after all, he was outgunned.

"Who are you?" he demanded, trying but failing to hide his fear as he was grabbed by two of the men. A third man approached, searching and relieving him of weapons.

"I am Lanik," the man replied, turning cold eyes to him. McKay shivered at the look, recognising a cold hearted killer when he saw one. "We are Genii."

"Oh, right, well, I thought Ladon…"

"We were loyal to Cowen, not to that would be leader," the man spat out.

"Oh…okay, so…what do you want with us?"

Lanik smiled, and McKay went cold. That smile reminded him of Kolya, and he had a feeling this man was every bit as dangerous as that psychopath, maybe more.

"We only want you, and your ship," Lanik said. "Bring him."

McKay was manhandled out of the crater.

"Ow, ow, no need to be rough about this," he muttered. He was led a few feet from the crater's edge, and then halted.

"You will lead us back to your ship," Lanik ordered him.

"Um, no. No, I think not."

"You will," Lanik smiled again, sending another chill down McKay's spine. "Or my men will kill your friends. In fact," he turned to one of his men. "Bring the woman."

"No, no, you don't have to do that," McKay stuttered out.

"Take us to your ship, and fly it to our destination, and she will not be harmed. We will even let her go, as soon as we have what we want."

Two of Lanik's men returned, one with Teyla slung over his shoulder.

"Okay," McKay agreed, defeated. "This way."

* * *

It had taken about forty minutes from the jumper to the crater, it took nearer an hour on the return journey, partly due to it being uphill, but mainly due to McKay not taking a direct route back. He was hoping that Ronon and Sheppard might recover from being stunned and catch up with them. It wasn't like this Lanik and his men were rushing, so surely if he took his time his team-mates might be able to catch them up?

Teyla had recovered from the stun by now, and was walking between two men, most likely looking for an opportunity to take them out, and probably not too happy with him for taking Lanik to their jumper. It wasn't like he'd been allowed to talk to her, or vice versa, as they were being kept apart.

He'd counted eight men including Lanik, and he didn't think they stood much chance against them, even if Teyla could get free. The Athosian was good, certainly able to take out more than her share of these goons, but as for himself; he'd never really gotten a handle on this hand to hand combat stuff. Add in the fact that these people were armed, and they really needed Sheppard and Ronon to get their asses in gear and catch up. The fact that Sheppard hadn't contacted him telepathically yet was worrying, very worrying. He hoped this Lanik hadn't had them killed by more men he didn't know about.

They were at the glade now, and he could tell from Lanik's angry stare that the guy had figured out that Rodney had taken them on a less than straight route.

"Your ship is here?" Lanik asked.

"Yes," McKay replied, nervously licking his lips. "It's cloaked."

"I know how far the crater is from this glade," Lanik glared at him. "It should not have taken this long," he turned to one of the men holding Teyla. "Pavan, cut her."

"No!" McKay cried out. "Please, don't."

But it was too late, and Pavan sliced into Teyla's left arm. Teyla hissed in pain, but did not cry out, glaring at Lanik with vengeance in her eyes.

"Oh crap," Rodney closed his eyes briefly, before turning angrily to Lanik. "You didn't need to do that, damn you!"

"On the contrary, you need to understand that stalling tactics will be punished," Lanik turned his attention back to Pavan. "Bind her wound, it would be a shame for her to die of blood loss."

As Pavan followed his orders, Lanik returned his attention to McKay again, assessing him coldly.

"Uncloak your ship."

McKay reached for the remote slowly, not wanting to spook the madman into thinking he was reaching for a weapon or something, and then brought it out, uncloaking the puddle jumper. His eyes darted to Teyla briefly, and then back to Lanik, as the guy took the remote from McKay's hand.

"Open it," he ordered.

McKay went to the rear hatch and opened it, and was then pushed into the jumper by Lanik, and into the forward section. He was aware of Lanik's men entering the jumper behind them. McKay slipped into the pilot's chair, knowing that if Lanik took them through the gate, which was most likely, then no one on Atlantis would be able to find them…unless Ladon was willing to help and had information on this Lanik person and his people.

He was desperately hoping for a last minute rescue from Sheppard and Ronon, but that seemed unlikely now. If Teyla was in the forward section, he could close the bulkhead doors and lock them, leaving them only two people to disarm…not good odds and if it failed…Teyla would be dead. Still, the alternative might not be any better. He somehow doubted this guy was going to let either of them go once he had whatever it was he wanted, which Rodney was pretty sure was more than just the jumper.

"I need Teyla up here, as co-pilot."

"I think not," Lanik replied.

"Look, I need a co-pilot, and I need someone who knows what they are doing," Rodney used his anger to fuel his bluff. "I'm not Sheppard! I have only the basic flying ability…crap, I can't even fly this thing in a straight line!" Which wasn't so true these days. He could fly in a straight line, most of the time, when he wasn't distracted by stray thoughts or theories popping into his head.

"It is true," Teyla's voice came from the rear of the jumper. "Dr McKay is not the best of pilots."

"See? Even my friend agrees. Listen, Teyla can deal with some of the lesser functions whilst I concentrate on the flying."

"She does not have the gene," Lanik stated.

"Oh, you know about that, then? Well, the co-pilot doesn't need the gene, just the pilot."

Lanik nodded to Pavan, who brought Teyla into the forward section. As soon as they entered, McKay closed the bulkhead doors, which distracted the two men briefly. Teyla, who had been waiting for such an opportunity as this, attacked the man holding her. McKay pushed against Lanik, hoping to and succeeding in pushing him off balance. Teyla had Pavan unconscious and disarmed within seconds and the gun pointed at Lanik's head before he could regain his balance and retaliate.

"Do not move," Teyla told him, anger clear in her eyes.

McKay stood up to disarm Lanik, but as he took the man's gun, he was grabbed and pulled up to be used as a shield, causing him to slip and curse. Teyla, however, moved equally as quickly, shooting Lanik in the head before he was able to succeed with his plan. He was dead before hitting the floor.

"Oh crap," Rodney said, shaking slightly and feeling decidedly sick.

"Are you okay?" Teyla asked him.

"Not really, but I guess I will be," he turned shocked eyes to her. "What about you? The knife wound…I'm sorry…"

"It is quite shallow," she reassured him. "You are not to blame."

The pounding on the bulkhead doors was increasing.

"Perhaps we should rid ourselves of our unwanted guests?"

"Yes, yes, that sounds like a good idea," McKay agreed, climbing to his feet unsteadily, and stepping over Lanik's body to get to the pilot seat. "Um, take them to the other side of the planet and, oh, I don't know, turn the jumper on its end? Gravity should then deal with our pest problem."

"Yes," Teyla agreed. "I will attempt to contact the Colonel and Ronon."

Receiving no response from either of their missing team-mates, Teyla and Rodney exchanged worried glances.

"Nothing we can do until I get rid of them," McKay nodded towards the back section of the jumper. "It will take about ten or so minutes to ensure they are far enough away not to trouble us…"

"Then the sooner we go, the sooner we can return."

"Yes, of course."

Silence fell as Rodney concentrated on flying. He soon found a spot far enough away that it would take the Genii a couple of days, at least, to get back to the glade, let alone the stargate. Tilting the ship and disengaging artificial gravity whilst hovering a few feet off the ground was not the easiest of manoeuvres he'd ever had to do, and the jumper wobbled dangerously more than once, but he was successful. The Genii slipped down the ramp and to the forest floor, a few feet below them.

Once the rear compartment was empty, he levelled the jumper and helped Teyla to pull the still unconscious Pavan and the very dead Lanik into the compartment, and then he repeated the manoeuvre. He was sweating profusely by the time they had ditched all of the Genii.

As they returned to the glade, he confided in Teyla his concern that Sheppard had not used his telepathy to let either of them know what his situation was. A brief discussion as to whether to return to the gate and dial Atlantis for back up before returning to the glade ended with the decision that Sheppard and Ronon might not have time for them to do get more help, and so they continued on to the glade first.

* * *

McKay checked the life signs detector as he hovered the cloaked jumper over the glade, picking up two dots approaching the tree line. Carefully, he set the jumper down so that the view screen was facing the dots and he could use his enhanced eyesight to hopefully see who was out there.

With Teyla's hand on his arm grounding him, he extended his sight outwards. Although the trees hid much of the people approaching, as they walked towards the glade he was able to make out an Atlantis uniform and Ronon's leather coat and he relaxed.

"It's okay," he told Teyla. "Looks like Sheppard and Ronon are heading this way."

They grinned at each other and went to meet them. It only took a few moments to be reunited as a team and to head back aboard the jumper. Explanations took a little longer, though. Sheppard and Ronon had woken up without their radios, and were unable to locate Rodney and Teyla. After checking around the crater, they had headed back to the glade, hoping that the jumper would still be there.

Teyla and Rodney explained about Lanik and his men, and how they had dealt with them. Sheppard was impressed with the flying manoeuvres Rodney had used, but he wasn't about to feed the ego by admitting that out loud; McKay picking it up from their bond would be bad enough.

"Why didn't you tell me Ronon and yourself were okay?" Rodney asked, trying to hide his concern behind accusation.

"I tried, but the telepathy doesn't seem to be working. Nor does the empathy, well, not properly. The bond is still there, I can feel that, and we're still sharing some feelings, but I can't pick up on anyone else's feelings," John explained, keeping the concern out of his voice. "I'm going to assume it's a side effect of the Wraith stunner and that it will return. If not, well, I'm sure we'll learn to cope without it."

As he said, the bond was still there and despite his attempts to appear nonchalant about the whole thing, he knew he wasn't fooling Rodney. He may not have had the empathy and telepathy for very long, but it felt like something had been torn from him, and it was both disturbing and worrying.

"Well, the stunners do scramble the brain, so there's a good chance it is just a temporary glitch," Rodney said. "Of course, the way your brain is scrambled to start with…"

"Thanks, McKay," Sheppard cut in with a mock growl, moving past him to slip into the pilot's chair. "So, what say we head for the gate and leave this miserable world behind? And not return, as it would seem the locals aren't as friendly as they seemed."

"Which shouldn't be such a surprise these days," McKay grumbled, sliding into his normal chair behind Sheppard. Teyla and Ronon also sat as Sheppard powered up the jumper and lifted off, starting for the gate and placing the jumper in stealth mode.


	2. Chapter 2 – It’s Never That Easy…

**Chapter Two – It's Never That Easy… **

As they came closer to the clearing that the stargate occupied, they spotted several life signs in close proximity to it. A quick fly-over proved that there were five people guarding the gate, and four suspiciously cannon-like weapons trained at the sky.

"Oh, that's not good," McKay said with a groan. "As soon as we uncloak to go through the gate, they'll start firing at us. And as we all know from bitter experience, it only takes one lucky shot for us to be in trouble."

"Shoot them," Ronon said flatly.

"Oh, right, good idea," McKay's sarcasm was set to high. "They're too close to the gate to use drones. We can't risk damaging the gate."

"Okay, let's set the jumper down as close by as we can," Sheppard said.

"And then what?" McKay asked snidely.

"Ronon and I will take out the guards. Once the guards are taken care off, I'll signal you and you can take the jumper through, and then we'll follow."

"I will also accompany you," Teyla stated.

"You sure you're up to it? That knife wound…" the Colonel started to ask.

"The knife wound is not deep and it has stopped bleeding. I am fine," Teyla asserted.

"Okay, the three of us will take out the guards."

Sheppard manoeuvred the jumper into a clearing that was about ten minutes walk from the gate.

"Maybe we should all go?" Rodney said nervously. "We can come back to retrieve the jumper later."

"I'd rather not risk sending people through unnecessarily. This way is better."

"Sheppard…"

"Rodney," Sheppard said warningly.

"Okay, fine. On one condition. You three go through the gate first, and once I know you're out of the way, I'll bring the jumper through."

"McKay…"

"No," McKay sat back, his arms crossed and a determined look on his face. "I'm not going through first. You're more vulnerable to counterattack, being on foot. I don't want to arrive in Atlantis expecting you to be right behind me and for you not to come through."

"Fine, okay. We'll go through first," Sheppard agreed reluctantly, understanding Rodney's fear. It wouldn't be the first time he'd thought his team or a team-mate was right behind him but for the gate to shut down instead.

"We'll contact you when we're ready to take the gate. Get the jumper up and be ready to follow us through. No delays."

Rodney nodded.

"Okay, let's head out," Sheppard said to Ronon and Teyla.

* * *

Taking the gate was hard, but doable. The rogue Genii put up a fight, though they were no match for the three of them. Once the guards were dealt with, Teyla dialled Atlantis and Rodney flew the jumper into position in front of the gate. He warned them that another eleven people were approaching the edge of the clearing and told them to go through, which they quickly did.

They arrived in the gateroom to find a worried Elizabeth looking down at them.

"No time to explain," Sheppard said to her, keying his radio. "McKay, we're clear. Come on through."

Back on the planet, Rodney acknowledged Sheppard's order, and uncloaked the jumper prior to entering the wormhole. And that was when it all went wrong.

Unbeknownst to them, there were two more cannons hidden in the trees at the edge of the clearing, and these had been moved into position as soon as Teyla, Ronon and Sheppard had left. When the jumper uncloaked, they fired at it and one shot successfully hit the jumper's left engine pod, causing Rodney to lose control when the jumper lurched to one side.

The jumper lurched a second time and hit one of the surrounding trees, falling to the ground heavily and screeching across the clearing to hit another tree. Rodney clung onto the console in front of him for dear life, but as the jumper hit the second tree, a branch cracked the view screen. He threw himself to the floor, clinging to the bottom of the co-pilot's chair with a strength borne of desperation, as the jumper swerved into a third and a fourth tree. Another branch hit the already weakened view screen, this time with enough force to break it, and entered the forward section, skewering the pilot's seat. The jumper came to a sudden, jolting halt.

Rodney lay on the floor, the final stop having propelled him forwards and forcing him to lose his grip. He found himself half in the rear compartment, and half in the front. Breathing heavily, it took several moments to gather his scattered thoughts and respond to the increasingly anxious shouts coming through his ear piece. Taking stock of his injuries, he was amazed to find that nothing seemed to be broken or sprained or even bleeding. Though he felt thoroughly bruised and shaken.

He activated his comm unit.

"Hey," he said shakily.

"_McKay, what's the hold up?"_ John's worried voice replied.

"Ah, cannons. They must have had some hidden away from the gate. Shot me down as soon as I uncloaked the jumper," he reported, surprised at the steadiness of his voice.

"_Crap. Sit tight. They can't get into the jumper, so you just have to hang on whilst we organise a rescue. Are you hurt?"_

"Amazingly, nothing serious. Lots of bruises…and a branch has taken out the view screen. Good job I hit the floor earlier or else…well…let's just say I'd be a smear and leave it at that," he felt the panic rising at the thought of his close call.

"_Can you get into the rear compartment?"_ John asked.

"Um," he shifted to his hands and knees with a few muttered 'ows' and started to shuffle into the back. "Yeah. Doing that."

He could hear Sheppard in the background ordering marines to the jumper bay along with Major Lorne, as well as heading there himself by the sounds of things. He suspected Teyla and Ronon wouldn't be far behind him either.

Slowly, carefully, Rodney stood and hit the bulkhead door control. It closed, partly, and then stopped, leaving about a gap between the doors.

"_McKay."_ He heard Sheppard again. _"How're you doing?"_

"Um, closed the bulkhead doors, but they're damaged. Left about an inch gap open."

"_Okay,"_ Sheppard paused. _"If you stay behind the doors, they won't be able to angle any of their weapons at you, so you'll be safe. Can you tell how close they are?"_

Rodney pushed his sense of hearing out, using the pain from his bruises to anchor himself.

"Virtually here," he replied, positioning himself behind the left hand bulkhead door.

"_Okay, just sit tight, McKay. We're nearly ready this side."_

"Okay," he answered, trying to rein in his growing panic as the Genii and Casils approached and he heard the sounds of at least one person climbing into the front of the jumper. "They're here, by the way."

He heard, and saw, as hands were pressed into the gap and tried to pry the bulkhead doors open. No chance, he thought, only to feel as well as hear the doors creak and move ever so slightly. But then the movement stopped, and after a few more minutes, the hands were removed, and he could breathe more easily again. Sheppard had contacted him again during this, and McKay had informed him of the attempt to pry open the doors, keeping his voice quiet.

Another couple of minutes passed, and this time some form of jack was put into use by the Genii to try and prise to bulkhead doors open. Sheppard told him to shoot through the gap in the doors, to discourage them. Carefully pushing himself back to his feet he shouted a warning and then sent a couple of shots through. Not hearing any cries of pain suggested they had taken his warning seriously and cleared out.

He was wrong. The doors creaked open another half an inch, and he realised one of the Genii had remained behind the door, where McKay couldn't shoot at him, and was operating the jack-like device. Not good, so very not good, as he reported to Sheppard, who told him they would be ready in just another couple of minutes and to try and hold it together.

And then, as if that wasn't bad enough, he heard a voice that froze his heart briefly, before sending it into a hammering race.

"Dr McKay?"

"Oh shit." He activated his comm again. "Sheppard…it's…" he took a deep breath, desperately trying to calm himself. "Kolya's here."

A stream of curses greeted him from Atlantis.

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly," he breathed into his comm.

"Okay, we're ready…just hang on…"

Then there was silence from Sheppard. But not so from Kolya.

"Dr McKay, I know you are in there and can hear me. I thought you might be interested to know that the wormhole has been disengaged and that we have now dialled out. If you were hoping for a rescue, you will be disappointed."

Oh crap, oh crap, why hadn't he thought of that? Why hadn't someone on Atlantis? They should have shut down the gate and dialled in… Oh crap, the door was moving again, slowly widening the gap.

He stayed behind the bulkhead door, waiting for the gap to become big enough for him to shoot at the man using the jack. He didn't want to kill anyone, but he had to stop them getting in to him.

At least Kolya had shut up, for now.

As soon as he thought he could angle the gun, he tried, but to his utter dismay the door gave a sudden jerk and opened completely. He aimed his gun, but wasn't quick enough as another man, who must have been hiding behind the other bulkhead door, shoved a gun into his face.

"Drop your weapon," the armed man ordered, and McKay obeyed, holding his hands up in surrender, and stepping back a pace. "Open the rear hatch, but move slowly and keep your hands in sight."

Rodney swallowed nervously, and backed slowly to the rear hatch, carefully bringing up a hand to open it.

Immediately it was open, three Genii soldiers moved in, two of them grabbing him by the arms and pulling him outside, bringing him to a stop in front of Kolya, who looked him over carefully, and then smiled. McKay shivered. It was not a pleasant smile. Not pleasant at all; very clearly boding ill for himself.

"Dr McKay. So good to meet you again."

"Actually I was hoping never to see your face again," Rodney said snidely, pushing his growing panic down, or at least trying to.

Kolya merely smiled again, more cold and deadly than before, and then turned his attention to the crashed jumper.

"A pity about the damage, but I expect you will be able to fix it, with the right incentive," Kolya said, turning back to Rodney.

"You must be joking!" Rodney exclaimed, not able to keep the incredulity out of his voice. "There's no way I can fix that! Have you seen the damage? Even with spare parts, which I don't have, I doubt I'd be able to repair it. Are you crazy or just stupid?"

Kolya responded with a hard, sharp slap to his face.

"Ow," Rodney muttered sourly, sure that he could feel the bruise already forming, thanks to his heightened sense of touch.

"Do not try to mislead me, Dr McKay."

"I'm not," he said, trying to sound more reasonable, but his annoyance bled through all the same. "Look, I might be able to fix a few things, but it's never going to fly again, even if I had spare parts, _which I don't_," he emphasised the last few words. "The tree's done too much damage, not to mention that the view screen is gone and I have no idea how to replace that. All damage caused by your goons shooting me down in the first place, I might add…" Rodney flinched back as much as he could with two behemoths holding him in place, as Kolya looked ready to hit him again. However, the ex-Genii commander pulled back at the last moment and the hit didn't land.

"Then we will salvage what we can from it, and in the meantime, I have some questions to ask you. After which, you will come with us. I am sure your knowledge and experience will come in useful."

Kolya ordered the guards to take him back to the village and guard him, before turning to the rest of his men; ordering some to salvage whatever they could from the stricken jumper, and others to watch the gate - making sure they knew to shut it down and dial back out a few minutes before the gate would close on its own. He was hoping that they would be able to pre-empt any attempts made by Atlantis to dial in by doing so.

* * *

When the gate had shut down, silence fell briefly, before angry voices muttered to themselves and others; they should have been prepared for it.

John was particularly upset with himself for not expecting Kolya's next move; the two jumpers that were going to McKay's rescue had been ready to go; they had been so close. Why hadn't they thought to dial out before now? Damn it.

"Elizabeth," he said over his comm.

"Yes, John?"

"We need to start dialling and keep at it until we hopefully make a connection. I don't know if Kolya will take everyone through to another planet straight away or try to salvage the jumper, but if they do remain on Casilano you can be certain he'll order the wormhole to be closed before the thirty-eight minutes is up. He'll be hoping to wrong-foot us; that we'll time it and wait for then before trying to dial the planet."

"_Okay, John. Chuck is going to start dialling now, and someone will trade off with him every few minutes."_

"Fine. We'll be ready as soon as a connection is made. I'm just hoping Kolya doesn't move Rodney off world."

"He has shown himself to be overconfident in the past," Teyla said, having heard the conversation over her own comm. "Perhaps he will believe his people can dial out before we can dial in and remain on Casilano. If not, we will find him, and Rodney."

"Yes, we will," John said with certainty. He just hoped it would be before Kolya could inflict any damage on McKay, or even worse, kill him.

It was nearly thirty-two minutes later that the gate finally engaged. Within two minutes the jumper carrying John, Teyla, Ronon, and three marines entered the wormhole, with a second jumper carrying Lorne and five marines following shortly after. They cloaked the jumpers as soon as each emerged over the Casilano countryside, and started to look for Rodney's subcutaneous transmitter.

They soon located him inside a village building; there were four life signs outside, surrounding the building, and two inside, right next to him.

He contacted Lorne and a plan was quickly thrown together.

As he flew his jumper towards a clearing near to the village, Sheppard felt something inside of him right itself and realised that the empathy was fully back, and hopefully the telepathy as well. He concentrated on contacting Rodney.

'_McKay, can you hear me? We're here and we're going to get you out of this, okay?'_

He didn't expect a response, of course, but he was pretty sure his message had gotten through.

* * *

Kolya had asked Rodney a lot of questions to do with the jumpers, and tied up as he was, unable to protect himself, he was in the unenviable position of being punched in the side whenever he refused to answer. He could tell Kolya was getting impatient and when the knife appeared he couldn't help flashing back to the hurricane, all that time ago.

Eyes wide with panic, he pushed the fear down. He'd broken then, but he was damned if he was going to break now. The guilt and disgust at himself that he'd felt back then was not something he wanted to ever have to deal with again, and he made an effort to slow his breathing down. It helped that he could dial down his sense of touch and therefore mute the pain, though unfortunately not get rid of it completely.

The first cut, on his right forearm, was almost exactly in the same place as before, and drew a sharp cry from him even with the pain dialled back.

"Tell me what I want to know, Dr McKay, and this will stop."

"Go…to…hell," he managed to get out between his gasps of pain; damn it, he should be able to push the pain dial down further, but it seemed to be stuck.

The knife went deeper and he sucked in a breath to stop himself from yelling, though he was sure a whimper escaped all the same.

It was then that Kolya was distracted by a message over the Genii wrist communicator he wore saying that the gate had closed down as ordered but that someone had managed to dial in before them. Atlantis, it was confirmed later, as two jumpers left the wormhole one after another, both cloaking before any of his men could get a shot off at either of them.

Kolya was furious and ordered his henchman to withdraw the knife, which the Neanderthal did quickly, not caring that he caused more pain in the process. Rodney closed his eyes, concentrating on breathing, as the pain dial spun out of control.

"Stay here and guard him," Kolya ordered, and then looked at him with a sick smile. "Continue to 'persuade' him to help us, with your fists."

Rodney shuddered, opening his eyes in time to witness Kolya's smile before the psychopath left to organise his men, and the two guards started hitting him with much enthusiasm and enjoyment; it hurt.

He was startled when he heard John's message and instinctively reached out with his mind, screaming for help. He hadn't expected Sheppard to hear it, the telepathy was supposed to be one way; guide to sentinel.

But Sheppard did.

* * *

John paled at the cry from McKay.

"Oh shit."

"Are you okay?" Teyla asked, worried, as John guided the jumper onto the ground just outside of the village.

"Yeah. Just…damn it, I don't know how or why, but I just heard McKay, and he's in trouble. They're hurting him."

"I did not think the telepathy worked both ways," Teyla said, confused.

"It's not supposed to," Sheppard answered. "But for some reason it is."

"He in pain?" This was from Ronon.

"Hell, yeah." He reached out to Rodney again.

'_What are they doing to you? That was one heck of a shout.'_

'_You…can…hear me?'_

'_Yeah. Hang tight, we're coming.'_

'Make it quick…damn it…' There was a pain filled scream. John shook; he hadn't realised he could hear a telepathic scream before now. 'Help me…please…'

'_The pain dial…'_ he suggested.

'_Not working…oh shit…hurry, please…'_

'_We're coming,' _John reassured him before breaking the link and looking at the concerned faces of his team. He was already standing at the jumper's exit, obviously having moved there during his conversation with McKay; not that he remembered moving.

"Let's go."

* * *

Major Lorne had landed his jumper briefly, allowing three of his marines to join Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon and two of the marines from their jumper as they headed out into the village, slowly working their way towards the building that contained McKay.

Lorne then took his jumper back up into the air to keep an eye on ground movements, and to be ready to provide cover in the form of drones if required.

The team and the marines spread out in pairs, each targeting and taking out one of the four people guarding the building. Lorne informed them that a group was heading their way, so Sheppard ordered him to fire a drone to discourage them; which he did, targeting an empty building close to the approaching troops.

Once the guards were taken care of, Sheppard and his team-mates entered the room McKay was being held in and quickly took out the two guards inside.

"McKay?" Sheppard approached. The astrophysicist looked like death warmed over, with each of his wrists tied to a chair arm, and ankles tied to the chair legs, he was battered, bruised and his right arm was bleeding. Shaking, he didn't respond to Sheppard's call.

Ronon reached him first, John having hesitated at the sight briefly, and produced a knife to cut the bonds. McKay, obviously spotting the knife coming towards him, flinched back with a startled cry.

"No, please."

"Shit," Sheppard dropped to his knees next to McKay, trusting the marines and Teyla to watch their backs. "Easy, McKay. Take it easy, it's us."

Rodney raised his eyes and looked at Sheppard, blinking, but no longer flinching as Ronon cut his bonds. Teyla passed John the med-kit.

"Hey, it's okay," John said, carefully taking Rodney's cut arm and cleaning the wound.

"Didn't…talk…" He heard McKay whisper.

"I know, I know. You did good," he reassured, before putting a pressure bandage on the knife wound. McKay hissed in pain.

"Didn't tell…him…"

"McKay, it's okay," John said again, turning Rodney's face towards him and wincing in sympathy at the bruise already forming there. "It's okay," he said, looking his friend in the eyes. Rodney looked back at him for a few moments, before giving a careful nod.

"You think you can stand?" Sheppard asked.

Rodney blinked a few times at that, mulling the question over in his mind.

"I think…" he started to say, before leaning over and puking with little warning. John only just managed to move out of the way in time.

"Sir," Lorne came over the comm. "I've discouraged a couple of groups, but there are four life signs heading in on you. I didn't spot them until they were too close. Sorry about that, sir." Lorne sounded disgusted at his lapse.

"Okay, just keep discouraging the large groups, we'll handle these four. Sheppard out."

With help from Ronon, he slowly started to pull McKay to his feet, but the Canadian couldn't seem to keep himself upright and started to sink to the ground. Ronon grabbed him and gently lifted him, placing him across both his shoulders carefully, rather than over one shoulder in the more normal fireman's lift, in deference to the beating he'd taken and the possibility of internal injuries.

They headed back out, managing to skirt around the four life signs that Lorne had warned them about, at least until they were at the edge of the village. Unfortunately, the jumper was across a clearing that was beyond a low four foot high wall that marked the village's boundary.

They had not gone far when the first bullet was fired from behind them, hitting one of the marines, Corporal Johnson, in the arm. The group ducked down behind the wall, glad that they hadn't gone too far past it to do so. Ronon placed McKay down gently; the physicist had passed out sometime during their escape, and joined the others in returning fire, whilst Teyla bandaged the Corporal's arm as best she could.

"Okay, Teyla, stay with McKay and Johnson," John ordered, and then turned two of the marines. "Mendez and Kirby, stay here as well and provide fire; let them think we're holed up here. Ronon, take Ritter and circle around left, I'll take Allard and circle to the right."

Orders given, Sheppard and Sergeant Allard moved off, keeping themselves hidden by the wall, as did Ronon and Sergeant Ritter in the opposite direction.

* * *

It took no more than a couple of minutes for Ronon and Ritter to get around one side of the four Genii, and using surprise as their advantage Ronon was quickly able to dispatch one of the Genii soldiers.

Unfortunately, a second Genii was able to get off a shot that hit Ritter in the leg. Ronon took out said Genii in retaliation and pulled Ritter behind a building, swearing; the wound looked bad and he put pressure on it to stop the bleeding. Using a spare hand, he activated his comm and informed Sheppard of their situation, and that the Colonel and Sergeant were on their own now.

* * *

Sheppard and Allard had attacked at the same time as Ronon and Ritter, quickly taking out one of the Genii. With the two that Ronon took out, that just left one, who took a pot shot at Sheppard. Allard pushed his commanding officer out of the way, and fell to the ground as Sheppard righted himself and took his shot.

The final Genii fell to the floor, dead. It took a few seconds for John to realise that it was Kolya.

Shaking his head, part of him not able to believe that he'd dealt with Kolya so easily, he felt a grim satisfaction nonetheless, and turned to attend to Allard. The bullet had been stopped by his flak jacket, though the guy had been momentarily winded and would no doubt have an impressive bruise from it.

Quickly checking to make sure that Kolya really was dead, he contacted Lorne and was informed that the other groups of Genii and Casils had been successfully pushed back to the opposite edge of the village, and that they now had a free run to the jumper.

Taking the time to find Ronon and Ritter, he quickly applied a pressure bandage to the injured marine's leg, and then Ronon slung him over his shoulder. Sheppard helped Allard up, but was waved off as the man got his breath back, and the four of them retreated to the jumper, after John had given the order to Mendez, Kirby and Teyla to get Johnson and Rodney to safety as well.

Before leaving Casilano, Sheppard fired several drones into the downed jumper, destroying it effectively; leaving nothing but scrap metal for the Genii and Casils. He was sure Rodney would read him the riot act later, but he wasn't about to risk more men to try and retrieve it, and he certainly wasn't going to leave anything for the Genii to salvage. McKay would get over it; eventually.


	3. Chapter 3 – The Obligatory Epilogue…

**Chapter Three – The Obligatory Epilogue…**

It was a few hours later, and John had given his report to Elizabeth and checked on his injured men. Ritter would have to return to Earth for specialist therapy if he stood any chance of being able to walk without a limp. Johnson would also need some therapy for his arm, but his prognosis was much more optimistic, with full mobility and strength predicted within a few months at most.

He was now settled on a seat between a much battered McKay in one bed and a sleeping Teyla in another.

Teyla's knife wound had needed stitches, so much for her 'it is fine' comment earlier. Beckett had not been pleased that she had gone on the rescue with such an injury; Sheppard was annoyed as well, but knew if he had been in her place he would have done the same thing. She was lucky that the wound had not become infected, and Beckett said it should heal well enough. Of course, the good doctor had decided to keep her in the infirmary for the night to 'keep an eye on her' if she was 'going to be bloody stupid' about her injuries 'like certain other people he could mention', aiming a glare at John. Sheppard had responded by putting on his 'who me' innocent expression, not that anyone was fooled by it - they knew him too well for that.

As for Rodney, his knife wound had also required stitching, with a lot more stitches than Teyla's had. He was badly beaten; his arms and torso taking the worst of the blows, and there had been some internal bleeding, but slow. Beckett was hoping it would right itself without the need for surgery, and Rodney was being closely monitored. He also had a spectacular bruise forming down one side of his face which might make talking painful for a while. Not that Sheppard expected it would stop McKay from talking completely, but it might slow the guy down for a while. He smiled at that thought briefly, before sighing again. They'd been lucky; no fatalities on their side and injuries that would heal.

At least Koyla was dead and wouldn't be causing anyone any more trouble.

But the price had been too high, for all that. Not just the loss of one of their jumpers, but for McKay and what he had suffered at Kolya's hand. It could have been a lot worse, but that wasn't much consolation to him. Rodney should never have been in that position to start with. They should have left the jumper and returned for it later. Without the gene, it was pretty much useless to the Genii and Casils, but at the time he hadn't known who was behind the attack, and he knew Ladon had been working on an artificial gene therapy at some point - after all, it was why Lorne and his team had been taken before the coup. He couldn't take the risk that it had worked and that this was their so-called ally at work. John still didn't trust the Genii leader, and was unlikely ever to do so.

He was jolted from his thoughts by the arrival of Beckett, here to check on his patients.

"You should get some rest," Beckett commented as he checked Rodney's vitals and apparently found them satisfactory.

"I'm fine. Besides, shouldn't you be resting too?"

"Touché, Colonel, touché," Carson replied with a quick grin. "He's going to be just fine."

"I'm sure he will be, I just…"

"Need to be with your sentinel right now."

"Yes, something like that," he agreed. "Doc, I told you that I could hear McKay, didn't I? Any ideas why?"

"Aye, you did. According to records it's never worked this way before. It's always been guide to sentinel telepathy, not sentinel to guide."

"So why us? What makes us so different?" John pressed.

"Well, I've been thinking about that and the only thing I can come up with at present is the ATA gene."

"But O'Neill has the gene…"

"Aye, but Dr Jackson doesn't. I'm thinking it has something to do with the way the gene enables a person to use Ancient technology mentally as well as physically. I think it's that which is behind Rodney's ability to communicate with you, someone who also has the gene, with his mind. If it was just that the sentinel needed the gene, then as you pointed out, General O'Neill should then be able to communicate with Dr Jackson. As it is, they can't, so it must require both to have the gene. That is, if I'm right about it being to do with the gene in the first place. It's all pure conjecture at this point."

"But you could test it, right? Give Jackson the therapy and if it takes, then they should be able to communicate two-way like us."

"Aye, I'll be mentioning it to them, but it's up to them if they want to test it out or not."

At that point, Ronon entered the infirmary and the conversation turned to how Teyla and Rodney were doing, after which Ronon strongly suggested that Sheppard get something to eat before the mess hall ran out of hot food, offering to stay with McKay whilst he did so, and agreeing to contact him if Rodney woke up. Beckett left them to it, returning to his office to catch up with some long overdo paperwork.

After Sheppard had returned from the mess hall, he had been persuaded by the combined forces of Beckett and Ronon to sleep, on a bed in the infirmary, whilst Ronon 'kept watch' over McKay, with strict instructions to wake Sheppard if Rodney woke up, and to swap with him in four hours time either way.

Ronon had ignored those orders and let Sheppard sleep longer, content to keep watch until the morning, feeling a need to make sure that this most annoying of friends would be okay, and to sit quietly with his sleeping team.

* * *

He dreamt of knives, cutting him, and fists, pounding him, and pain and fear, squeezing him…and Kolya's face, smiling at his pain, laughing at his weakness, gloating at his fear…

He woke up, panting, and tried to sit up only to be held down by a strong but gentle hand on his chest

"Just a dream, McKay."

And just like that, the tension drained out of him, leaving him tired. Ronon. Atlantis. Safe. Home.

And ow and ouch, as his various aches and pains made themselves known.

"Ow," he said out loud, trying to move into a comfortable position, only to find none. "Hurts."

"Yeah. You got beaten up good," Ronon replied.

"Nothing good about this," he muttered, and ouch, his jaw hurt as well.

"Might not want to talk. Your jaw, and face, are bruised. Not a pretty sight, you might want to avoid mirrors as well."

"Thanks for the advice," he said snidely, closing his eyes and trying to find the pain dial. Ah, there it was. He pushed it down a little. Right, so _now_ it was working fine. Pity it hadn't been so easy to control when…a shudder ran through his body, which, ow, damn it, had not been such a good idea.

"You want me to get Beckett?"

"If he's got the good drugs, yes."

McKay heard a sound of amusement, and opened his eyes to glare at his team-mate. The glare lessoned as Ronon pressed the call button.

"Others… okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. Teyla's arm's been stitched. She'll be fine. Sheppard's okay, just asleep," Ronon replied, not mentioning the marines; he'd leave that to Sheppard. He knew McKay would feel bad about them being hurt whilst rescuing him. It was the way he was.

"Mmm. Good," he replied sleepily.

"Go back to sleep, McKay."

"Hmm."

And Ronon experienced the rare pleasure of McKay doing as he was told, without argument or complaint.

He grinned.

But then McKay started snoring.

* * *

A few days later, and Rodney had been released to light duties, which Beckett had been at pains to tell him meant no more than four hours in the labs each day, no working in his room, plenty of rest and, for goodness sake, no late nights.

Rodney had decided that what Beckett didn't know wouldn't hurt him, and pretty much returned to his normal routine.

Which is why John found him working late in the labs that evening.

"Thought you were supposed to be taking it easy?" he said.

"Hmm. Oh, I am."

"Sure you are," John said disbelievingly.

Rodney just shrugged.

"What do you want anyway?" he asked peevishly.

"Actually, I wanted to talk about…well, you said that the pain dial wasn't working… you know, when…"

"When they were working me over? Yes. It worked, at least to some extent anyway, at first. I mean, the pain was muted. But then it seemed to stop working so well, until eventually it stopped completely," Rodney replied, hardly believing what he was about to suggest. "I hate to say it, but maybe we need to find some way to…I don't know… test it and maybe…erm…do some exercises…"

"Not sure we could without hurting you, and I'm not about to sanction or take part in anything like that. Besides, I think, in a way, it's a good thing."

"What!" McKay looked surprised, and a little hurt at that. "You mean, you'd _want_ me to be in pain?"

"No, no, that's not what I meant," John sighed. "Look, if you dial down the pain too far then you don't know how badly you're being hurt, and I'd much rather you talked than be seriously injured. And," he continued quickly, seeing that McKay was about to interrupt, "If your captors realise you're not in as much pain as you should be they'll probably step up the torture in response and end up hurting you more than they would have otherwise. Possibly even more than they wanted, if they were intending to keep you alive."

"Oh."

"Yes, oh. So, I don't think tests are necessary. Under normal circumstances you can dial it down enough to still know it's there, but for it not to be a major problem, and that's good. The last thing we need is for you to think you're okay when in fact you're not, because you weren't feeling _any _pain. And in more…extreme circumstances, I think it's better that it doesn't mute the pain too much."

"I…" Rodney looked annoyed, before giving a deep sigh. "You're right. I just don't like pain."

"None of us do, McKay."

And then John smiled in a way that made Rodney worried. No good could come from a smile like that, not from Sheppard anyway.

"So…how many candy bars are you going to give me?"

"What? Why would I be giving you candy?"

"So that I don't tell Beckett I found you in the lab, still working at," he paused to look at his watch meaningfully.

"You wouldn't!"

John's smiled grew.

Oh crap, of course he would, the rat. Rodney gave a put upon sigh; he knew when he was beat.

"How many do you want?"

The End

_A/N – There are differing opinions on whether the puddle jumpers have to be uncloaked before going through the stargate or not. It's not something that is obvious from the TV show, but I'm choosing to think they need to be uncloaked. I'm basing this on the fact that in 'Condemned', the jumper that Elizabeth and Lorne is on isn't cloaked until after they leave the wormhole. In fact, Elizabeth says to go to stealth mode as soon as they are through. If it could travel through the wormhole cloaked, surely they would have done so? Of course, this is just my take on it, and I could be proved wrong in the future._


End file.
